THE WYCOMBE FLYER High Wycombe and District Model Aircraft Club www.hwdmac.co.uk Inside This Month Chuckie Challenge Report; Memories of the Air War (part 3). Model Helicopter for sale Also any other news as it comes. The next club event will be Sunday 20 th August, 2017 At the Flackwell Field Starting at around 11.00am And will be The Club Summer Gala This year s Summer Gala will be taking place on Sunday 20 th August. Weather permitting this will be an all-day event. Officially we ll say the Gala starts at 11am, with BBQ and food (free!) planned for 2pm and then flying till dusk. Don t forget that partners, friends and family are all welcome to join us as well. The aim of the day will be to have fun and enjoy our hobby so there will be no strict schedules to adhere to but some possible events that could be run will include; All Up! how many planes can we get in the air at the same time Aircraft taxi race around the strip. RC Car Grand Prix around the strip. Some Fun-Fly competitions such as touch and go s and time loops. Of course there will be plenty of time for general flying and if your plane is fitted with lights we could go all night! So bring along your latest projects or that one model that is a bit different to show the rest of the club.
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 2 Don t Forget the Multi-Media Masters Yes, don t forget the September photo and video competition. The Club Gala is an ideal opportunity to capture some entry material as you can get a lot closer to the action than at the commercial shows and there are a lot of top quality planes and things in the Club. Remember that it is no good having a perfect photo or video if the subject is only a speck in the centre of the frame. There is plenty of good editing software available for PCs and mobile phones, some of it even free, that will remove the surrounding space and enhance your effort. There will be just three entry categories: Model Aircraft / Real Aircraft / Aviation video and the rules will be the same as last year as published in the August 2016 Newsletter which is available on the Club Website. There is also an entry form on the website that can be found at http://www.hwdmac.co.uk/photo-competition-entrants/4592814940. Basically: Photos Videos o Photos must have been taken by the entrant; o No editing of the photo is allowed except for cropping, contrast and brightness. o May be up to 4min. duration (depending on how entries are received only the first 30 to 60 seconds may be shown during the initial rounds but the full videos will be shown in the final); o Must be taken/owned and edited by the entrant; o The clip may be a compilation of shorter clips; o Audio may not be included in play-back. All entries to be submitted with a brief description of the entry (subject(s), location, event, equipment used) Entries should be submitted before 22 nd September 2017, but depending how many entries are received 1 per entrant may be accepted on the night. Chuckie Challenge 2017 Report Once again the Towersey strip hosted the Chuckie Challenge. In contrast to last year's weather the competitors were greeted by slightly breezy conditions so the Mobile Aeronautical Development Studio was setup against the hedge on the Southern perimeter and, with wind breaks in place, the breeze was all but negated. The competition begins with the 2 hour building phase which kicked off with a rich mixture of head scratching, planning, cutting and shaping. By the end of the first hour of building the creations were beginning to take shape with a broad range of designs including: a scale model of a Vulcan, a futuristic space fighter, and a sleek Concorde style delta. Of the conventional designs the wing styles were spit between high aspect ratio (long and narrow) low aspect ratio (short and broad) but all favoured the stability of poly-hedral. The 2nd hour saw models being finished, test flown and trimmed. With catapults being allowed this year there was the added conundrum of launch method, the 'X'-Plane style gliders all went for the catapult launch but the traditional shoulder destroying javelin technique found favour with most of the conventional glider designs. With all of the gliders finished and trimmed and the competitors eager to put their creations to the test we took time for a civilised cup of tea and a couple of delicious cup cakes courtesy of event organiser Guy and his wife Beverley - trust me fellas, this alone is well worth breaking free of the High Wycombe city limits! Luxuriously refreshed and re-energised it was time put the theories to the test, the flying competition starts with a league phase of
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 3 head-to-head fly-offs where everyone has a fly-off against every other competitor. The first head-to-head was the "X"-plane of James pitted against the high aspect ratio conventional glider of Bruce, although convention won the day kudos must go to James for getting a design more suited to the vacuum of space to fly in the thick air of planet earth! Next up was Mark with the Vulcan pitted against Raphael with his conventional high aspect ratio design, despite the two very different designs both planes landed within a second of each other to draw the round. Launch technique The third round was a father/son fly-off between myself and Colin (my Dad), we both had low aspect ratio conventional designs but experience won the day handing the three points to Colin. Stuart ventured into the supersonic this year with a Concorde inspired delta design and round 4 saw him line up next to last year's champion Guy who evolved his championship winning design from last year with a high aspect ratio wing which gave weight to the theory that slow and steady wins the race (or at least stays airborne longer). Richard went for a low aspect ratio design, very similar to Guy's model from last year and his first flight was against Bruce but it was the high aspect ratio glider that hung in the air longer to take the win. Once we got to the half way point of the league phase of the flying we took a break for folk to make adjustments and repairs. The break proved to be the making of Stuart s performance, a bit of fine tuning and the realisation that his delta glider flew better inverted led him to two draws and a win having lost all of his first half contests. Following the league phase the scores from the flyoffs were totted up to find the top 4 that would go through to the knock out phase of the competition. Fourth place was however tied between Raphael and Mark and as they drew their head-to-head a deciding fly-off was in order. As if to further demonstrate how well matched these two were the result was another draw but the 2nd tie-break fly-off had the Vulcan staying clear of mother earth longest to put Mark through to the semi-finals joining Colin, myself and Guy. The semi-finals were decided on a best of three wins. The father/son semi-final between Colin and Mark saw Colin make a clean sweep with two consecutive wins and achieving the nice little double of beating both his sons showing that there is no substitute for experience! The other semi-final between Guy and myself was a close match with Guy's high aspect glider forcing a draw in the 2nd fly-off but getting pipped in the first and third matches. The Finalists
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 4 The final was decided on a best of 5 and pitted the two low aspect ratio conventional gliders of Colin and myself. Despite close matches the tables were turned on Colin and I finally beat my Dad in a clean sweep! All in all we had a nice little afternoon/evening, the gliders were unaffected by the breeze although it did carry them to far end of the field on occasion. Thanks to Guy's preparation the event went smoothly in a very British civilized style and special thanks to Beverley for the cakes. It takes a good crop of entrants to really make an enjoyable event and hats off to all who took part and bring on the "X"-plane contingent - maybe we could have PPS Chuckie Challenge! Brian League Result Position Competitor Score Plane Style 1st Colin Seymour 22 Conventional low aspect ratio wing 2nd Brian Seymour 21 Conventional low aspect ratio wing 3rd Guy Pickett-Jones 15 Conventional high aspect ratio wing 4th Mark Seymour 11* Scale Vulcan bomber 5th Raphael Edouard 11* Conventional high aspect ratio wing 6th Bruce Austin 9 Conventional high aspect ratio wing 7th Richard Ibbotson 7 Conventional low aspect ratio wing 8th Stuart Coyle 4 Concorde style delta 9th James Seymour 1 Star Wars style space fighter * Mark Seymour won the tie-breaker for 4 th place 1 st Semi-final 2 nd Semi-final Flight Colin Mark 1 Won ~ 2 Won ~ Grand Finale Flight Brian Guy 1 Won ~ 2 Draw Draw 3 Won ~ Flight Colin Brian 1 ~ Won 2 ~ Won 3 ~ Won
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 5 RC Helicopter for Sale Would any members be interested in an RC helicopter and lots of accessories? I have a good setup on upgraded nitro Raptor 30 and lots of kit, but I just haven't been able to use it for a couple of years and now is probably the time to accept that I probably won't get back into it. If interested please email me at awilson589@googlemail.com. Cheers Andy Wilson THE AIR WAR SEPTEMBER 1939 TO MAY 1945 BY A SCHOOL BOY. (Some memories of old from Dick Edmonds who may not have seen it all but has certainly seen a lot of it. Ed.) Part 3 BOMBER COMMAND Bomber Command was responsible for organising the bombing raids against Germany. Its under-ground Headquarters were near the village of Naphill in the Chiltern hills which is about four miles from High Wycombe. The boot was now on the other foot. In 1940 we were all listening out for the Luftwaffe who were destroying our cites but as the war went on the RAF increased in size and were regularly bombing German cites including Berlin. As the raids on Germany took place at night we could hear our aircraft but not see them except for those raids that took place in mid-summer and if the sky was cloudless The sight was awesome with hundreds of bombers stretching from horizon to horizon. They were all heading for their selected target most of them were Lancasters and a few Halifaxs. However as the last of the heavy bombers appeared high flying Mosquitoes arrived in loose formations of three or four flying much higher than the heavies and about a one hundred MPH faster. The Mosquitoes were Path Finders that marked the targets with coloured flairs. Extensive damage was caused to German industry and the cities around it. The RAF also suffered heavy losses on some raids. THE YANKS ARE COMING President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attacked the American Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbour on 7th Dec 1941. Of course this date is known by many people. The American Armed Forces used Britain as a base from which to attack Germany. The US Air force needed many thousands of yards of runway for the heavy bombers like the B17 flying fortress to operate from. Many of these runways were laid in the eastern counties like Lincolnshire and Essex as they were flat and down to crops. There were no such air fields near High Wycombe due to the Chiltern Hills and beech woods. However the US Air Force (in those days it was the US Army Air Force USAAF) required a Headquarters. Now there happened to be a girls Public School - Wycombe Abbey - in the centre of High Wycombe. This school and its extensive grounds were requisitioned and used for this HQ during the war. Additional construction was carried out underground. With the HQ in this location it was only four miles from RAF Bomber Command. When the first service men moved in they were delighted to read
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 6 the notice which said Press bell for Mistress but I think they were disappointed when they did. The main American bomber force was made up mainly of the B17 Flying Fortress. They flew their attacks in day light hours, all in tight formation of 12 aircraft, there were many blocks of 12 all relatively close to one another. Hundreds of aircraft taking part each day it was a magnificent sight just like an armada going forth into battle. However, it was sad to see all the spaces of the missing aircraft on their way home. It was possible very often to see the damage, one day a B17 was very low and it had an enormous hole in the Fin/Rudder. The smaller bombers like the B26 Martin Marauder did not fly in large formations usually it was just three. Fighters like the P15 Mustang, Lockheed P38 Lightning, and Republic P47 Thunderbolt were often to be seen and of course the Douglas C47 Dakota. All air activity was increasing with the build up to the invasion of the continent. OTHER EVENTS INCLUDING CRASHES The first crash I was aware of was a Bristol Blenheim near the top of Marlow Hill. It was meadow land then but today it is all built on. It was just visible from Grandfather s field on the other side of a valley. The next was a Handley Page Halifax which was reported to have crashed in a field close to where the sports centre is today, although I did not see it. The next was a Mosquito. I was walking in the woodland called Tom Burts Hill near Wycombe Hospital when there was a very loud roar of a low flying aircraft although I could not see it due to the trees. It was reported to have hit the railway embankment close to the bridge that took the Maidenhead line over the A40 London Rd. Both crew were killed. This line has long gone due to lack of use although it was used a lot in those days. The next was a Lockheed Lightning it crashed into the signal box in West Wycombe railway station killing the signalman. The pilot also died when his parachute did not open in time; his body was found in woodland near to Downley Common. I cannot remember the date or day but it was a school morning at Mill End Road school. At the midday break many of the boys went to have a look at the crash as it was only a short distance away. When they returned to class their pockets could be seen bulging with bits of aircraft. Later in the afternoon the Police arrived with a large cardboard box and the boys were made to turn out their pockets and put their trophies into the box. The next item of interest was a captured Messerschmitt ME109 it was displayed in Leigh St next to William Birch s factory that made parts for the DH Mosquito, the factory my father worked at. I remember climbing all over it. The next incident involves a Vickers Wellington. I was walking along High Wycombe High Street when I heard the sound of an aircraft flying over and when I looked up I could see a thin trail of smoke behind this Wellington. The trail was coming from the rear of the fuselage not the engines as I would of thought. Many years later I read an article on Sir Frank Whittle s early Jet engines and some had been air tested in a Wellington; could this be what I had seen? (To be continued.) (The wartime RAF Bomber Command HQ at Walter s Ash is still an operational facility but certain parts are preserved as a museum and a while ago I was privileged to visit them and see the office from where Air Chief Marshal Arthur Bomber Harris directed the controversial bomber campaign and walk the underground tunnels around the site. Apart from the helicopter pad and car park the site is still much as it was during the War and if you look on Google Maps you can see how it was laid out to resemble a small village. The tunnels were used to get between the buildings without being seen by German photoreconnaissance aircraft. The ruse worked as the site was never bombed. [Ed])
HWDMAC Newsletter - August 2017 Page 7 That s not what it s for! Will everyone please note that the picnic table at the Flackwell field is for recreation, sitting at, eating from and similar actions. It is not for plane preparation or refuelling. Because I ve got to fill the space here are a few more half build pictures from the Chuckie Challenge. Committee Members for 2017 Office Name E-mail Telephone Chairman Stephen Berry Deputy Chairman John Quelch Treasurer (Acting) Malcolm Connell Data removed for Web publishing Secretary Daren Brand Membership Secretary Mike Winston Competition Rep Guy Pickett Training Rep Jonathan Harper Flackwell Rep Ron Spencer Chinnor Rep Brian Seymour BFMA & Safety Rep Mitch Mabbutt Newsletter Editor Malcolm Connell Web Site and Communications Ian Scottow Meetings and Events in 2017 Date Day Event Location 20 August Sunday Summer Gala Flackwell 25 September Monday Multi-Media Masters RBL 23 October Monday Talk - Speaker and subject to be advised RBL 27 November Monday AGM and Subs payment RBL The Editor, Malcolm Connell, 38, White Close, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP13 5NG. Phone: 01494 531314 Deadline for September Newsletter - 15/9/2017 Email: malcolm.connell@ntlworld.com